Jesus Mosque - Jordan's latest symbol of interfaith peace (Feature)

Middle East Features

By Abdul Jalil Mustafa Oct 3, 2008, 9:13 GMT

Madaba, Jordan - A mosque named after the central figure of Christianity is the latest milestone of interfaith coexistence in Jordan. Both Muslim and Christian leaders expressed delight when the Jesus Christ Mosque opened a few months ago in the tranquil town of Madaba, 30 kilometres south of the capital, Amman. 'This is a message to the world that Muslims consider Jesus Christ their own messenger because he informed humanity beforehand that the Prophet Mohamed was coming,' the mosque's prayer leader, Belal Hanini, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. 'It also proves that Islam is a religion of tolerance and has nothing to do with extremism,' he said. Hanini and other worshippers explained how followers of Islam and Christianity lived for a long time in peace and fostered fraternal ties in this area of the Hashemite Kingdom, an ardent supporter of interfaith dialogue. Christians make up 10 per cent of Madaba's residents and account for 5 per cent of Jordan's 5.5-million population, they said. 'We have lived in peace for centuries with our Christian brothers and now we feel that this mosque symbolizes our fraternity,' Abd Horout, a Muslim lawyer from Madaba said as he finished afternoon prayers. 'We have been ordered by our holy book, the Koran, not to differentiate between messengers. We consider Jesus Christ a brother of our messenger, the Prophet Mohamed,' he added. He pointed to a cluster of inscriptions fixed to the inside walls of the mosque which are enshrined in the Muslim holy book in praise of Jesus Christ and his mother, Mary. The Jesus Christ mosque was built by the al-Otaibi family, a Muslim clan that has a long history in the Madaba area and a distinguished record of promoting good ties with the Christian community. 'We wanted to set an example to be followed elsewhere for interfaith coexistence,' Marwan al-Oteibi told the dpa. 'Giving this name to this shrine is also designed to let the entire world understand that Islam is a religion of tolerance that enjoys innate readiness of communication with other faiths,' he said. Naming an Islamic shrine after Jesus Christ was enthusiastically welcomed by Christian leaders in Jordan, who considered it a new gesture of goodwill from the Muslim majority. 'As monotheists, we are delighted with this move from our Muslim Brothers towards Jesus Christ and his mother, as we realize that the holy Koran has devoted a specific Surah (chapter) to her,' Reverend Nabil Haddad from the Greek-Catholic Church told dpa. 'We, followers of Jesus Christ, have been moved by this step which has left us extremely happy at a time when we seek to present Jordan as a model for interfaith coexistence,' said Haddad, who chairs the Jordanian Centre for Peaceful Coexistence. Putting the name of Jesus Christ on a Muslim shrine was endorsed by the Jordanian Ministry of Religious Endowments and Islamic Affairs, which acts as a watchdog for all mosques in the country. 'This gesture falls in line with Jordan's policy to encourage dialogue among religions and civilizations,' said Samir Qudah, who is in charge of the Ministry's section that looks after mosques.

Your Talkback on this Story

Older Talkback

page: 1

Interfaith exists only in MuslimsOct 3rd, 2008 - 21:40:43

Only in the Muslim countries there is something called inter faith coopeartion, but only at the part of Muslims. India has shown the way Cristianity and Judiaism should be dealt with. The western Christianity has shown its ways too of extreme hostility to Muslims and Islam in general. Why there is no interfaith trust in west?

ONLY BECAUSE WEST IS OPPRESSIVE, COLONIST, CRUSADER AT BEST!!

Report this comment

Interfaith ?Oct 6th, 2008 - 18:23:06

Ha! Ha!, you must be kidding about the West. We have had interfaith since our inception - we just like to exclude muslims because you don't believe in interfaith at all - all you believe in is converting everyone else to your religion to the point of extermination to the non-believers.
Oh yea a place of worship for Christians is called a church not a mosque.
You muslims are so brainwashed or do you all just have very low I.Q. ??

Report this comment

Al-DajjalOct 6th, 2008 - 18:42:24

The truth about Jesus (Isa) in Islam is revealed in Islam's canon of scripture, tradition and exegesis. I have compiled the revelation thereof in a blog post titled The Defamation of Jesus Christ. You can read it at Freedom Ain't Free or at Scribid(reprinted from Radar Site). Your favorite search engine will find it by title if you enclose it in quote marks.

Islam teaches that Jesus is Allah's slave, not his son, was neither crucified nor resurrected, and will return to destroy Christianity, kill the Jews and rule the world by the Koran. The details are in my blog post, with links to the source documents. Read it and weep.

Report this comment

??????Oct 6th, 2008 - 20:21:34

Get a life Al-Dajjal !!

Report this comment

Donkey hehawOct 6th, 2008 - 20:22:46

Al-Dajjal - may your camel piss in your face.

Report this comment

SP4: We have Christian MosquesOct 10th, 2008 - 18:44:27

..they are called churches...

Report this comment

Interfaith is NUTS !!Oct 15th, 2008 - 14:24:44

Interfaith , I think you should get the Olympic Gold Medal for the MOST BRAINWASHED person. Also you are real good at propaganda, just like Hitler.